


beginning & end

by havisham



Category: Frontier Wolf - Rosemary Sutcliff
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Hunters & Hunting, M/M, Resolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-12
Updated: 2015-01-12
Packaged: 2018-03-07 05:50:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3163613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/havisham/pseuds/havisham
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alexios wants what he can't have.</p>
            </blockquote>





	beginning & end

It was Connla, of all people, who noticed first.

He brushed his blazing red hair back, impatient, his mouth fixed into an amused, savage curl. His fox-sharp teeth gleamed in the dark. “The Young Wolf has taken a liking to my brother, it seems!” 

And Alexios Flavius Aquila, commandant of the Frontier Wolves at Castellum, flushed, his cheeks darkening against the slow growth of stubble on his face. It had been a full day since he had had a chance to shave. He felt slovenly, and indeed, a little lightheaded, as if he had drunk more than sparingly of heather beer and had taken more than a sip of the fermented mare’s milk. But he had not, and what he had drunk was for courtesy’s sake only. 

He was not drunk. 

And so there was no reason for his emotions to show so clearly on his face, and certainly not so clearly as to let one such as Connla read them so well. But Connla did notice, and found it amusing. He gave another sharp bark of a laugh. “Rest easy, son of Rome! My brother will see nothing amiss. He’s as blind to love-sickness as any man alive.” 

Alexios swallowed hard and grit his teeth, at a loss as to what to say. But Connla did not wait for him to answer. He got up and sprinted off to catch the hand of a fierce-looking girl with dark plaits down her back, who avoided him deftly.

It was Cunorix himself who came upon him now, clasping Alexios’ shoulders. He dipped down, close to Alexios’ ear. “We will go hunting, soon,” he said, and the thing had in it a shape of a promise, and Alexios caught himself looking and smiling, and nodding as if he expected that it would be so. Cunorix let go then, but still he lingered, his eyes not straying from Alexios’ face. 

Alexios knew, of course, that the new Chieftain of the Votadini would have much to do before he could spare time for anything like hunting, even with the commandant of the Frontier Wolves at Castellum. Even with Alexios. For when they would hunt together, they would do it as Cunorix and Alexios only, not the Chieftain and the Commander. 

But still, Alexios took the promise as it was meant to be taken -- he dipped his head in acknowledgment, and hid a smile. “We will,” he said, his voice warm and edged with drink. His vision swam, and Cunorix seemed to dance in front of him, reaching for him, to steady him. 

_Well. Perhaps, I am drunker than I imagined._

Cunorix, seeing that he had regained some measure of balance, drifted away. He was immediately swallowed up by the shouting crowd that moved to claim him utterly. 

Alexios was left with a cup of mare’s milk that he upset the next time someone jostled the table. 

 

*

Cunorix’s eyes were a mottled green and brown mixed together, hazel and intense. In the flickering light of their small fire, his face was almost wholly in shadow, except his eyes, and his hair, which took the what little warmth and brightness of the fire had and threw it back. Alexios could, if he wished to do so, lean down and kiss him. But he did not have much of a chance to think about it, because Cunorix pulled him down and kissed him, his whiskery cheeks tickling against him. 

Alexios’ mind fogged up into a pleasant haze, until -- he pulled away, breathless. “Your people will be wondering where you are.” 

Cunorix’s eyebrows, russet and thick, rose questioningly. “And yours will not?” 

“Hilarion and Lucius can keep things running, but certainly I am needed -- or so I hope!” 

Cunorix shook his head, a difficult move with Alexios still on top of him. “It is the same with me. Connla is... Well, he is what he is. It is not wise to leave him to his own devices for very long.” 

Time, or rather the lack of it, pressed heavily against them, and made their movements more frantic, turned their breathing into panting, and when Alexios came, he did so with a rush, his hips still anchored against Cunorix. With a few lazy strokes of Alexios’ hand, Cunorix too reached his release. 

They cleaned themselves quickly, sparingly using the water they had. As soon as they had dressed, a change came upon them. They did not move together as lovers might; there was a distance between, as it would be if they were friends, and not particularly close friends at that. Alexios saw to the fire, and Cunorix to the horses. He looked critically at Alexios’ mare, and said, casually, his hands stroking its brown flanks.“You ought to have a better ride than that.” 

Alexios blushed at his words, but his face cleared when he saw that Cunorix was seriously. He swallowed hastily and said, “She does well enough for me.” 

He dug his boot into the dirt, suddenly uncertain. It had seemed so easy before, natural even. There had been no time for doubts. But now he thought of Cunorix’s woman, with the gold drops in her ears. He had not wanted to blunder in this way, all unthinkingly, but when the chance had come, he had taken it. 

Cunorix watched him knowingly, and shook his head. “Our hunting trips, you enjoy them, do you not?” 

“You know that I do.” 

“Then it is enough, for I feel the same.” Cunorix patted the horse’s side, satisfied. 

They exchanged cautious smiles, and soon parted, each going back to their particular world, that needed them so wholly. 

 

* 

Cunorix was quite close, his pleasant, ugly face unrecognizable as it twisted in pain. Cunorix, sagged on top of him, Alexios heard inarticulate cry escape from Cunorix’s lips, softly incredulous, as Alexios’ sword found its home in between his ribs. 

Alexios could feel the moment his heart stopped.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you, Isis! Your betaing-skills are superb, as always.


End file.
